Latest posts by michael wilson (see all)
- JORDAN RIVER - February 5, 2019
- Inspired Art - August 2, 2018
- Waiting for Inspiration - July 31, 2018
- The Bridge between Painting and Photography - July 31, 2018
There is not a gentle way to find one’s own identity in painting. There is a certain thievery involved – a wrenching, almost violent extraction. This is not necessary for some, but others who are searching, this becomes a vital part of the process.
I began drawing and painting as early as four and I am sixty-six now and yes, I am still in the process of discovering my own identity. By painting I think I understand my own personal dimensions more than the average man my age. It is important to me. My painting helps me to discover myself and sometimes it is, frankly slightly painful. It feels like an extraction. At other times it feels like I am drawing up a heavy bucket of water from a deep, dark well. I pull hand over hand and it is hard work. It does not come easy. I concentrate and I pay attention.
So what am I stealing? There is something hidden away in all of us and we go around the edges like we are circling a lake, a little afraid to go in. Maybe it will be too deep. Abstract painting is like that – identity theft. We are stealing something from inside and we are allowing it to manifest itself. They say when you open a good bottle of wine, you have to let it breathe. Abstract painting is like that…you are allowing yourself to open up and experience what is inside.
There is some honesty involved and bravery. You must be prepared to honestly put down the experience. This is part of stealing of the treasure, pulling up whats inside and manifesting it. There is no form that needs to be represented – this kind of painting creates its own form, its own colors, its own patterns and rythm and style. So in some sense this kind of painting is more difficult because you are interpreting images that are just now coming up from within. There are no forms to go by, bottles or trees or basket of fruit or shimmering lake or sweep of road or animal, plant or human visage. No, this kind of abstract painting is a very visceral thing and often expressive. There is very much to gain in the process – what can be more precious to discover than ones own emerging expression, ones own identity?
In a society that has lost much of its art, it has lost its humanity as well and by that I mean its own identity. We are floundering and confused. Painting abstracts can be a means to discover ones own identity (personal stamp), piece by little piece. THis kind of personal discovery also serves the greater humanity – pointing the way.